Why Irish Farmers Never Counted Cattle Out Loud: The Folk Belief in Misfortune
The Irish once believed that counting cattle, children, or blessings out loud attracted misfortune. Here is the old custom every rural family knew.
The Irish once believed that counting cattle, children, or blessings out loud attracted misfortune. Here is the old custom every rural family knew.
The Caves of Kesh sit open on the limestone face of Keshcorran Hill in County Sligo, visible for miles across the plain below. They’ve been …
Ireland has over 61,000 townlands — ancient land divisions, each with an Irish name going back a thousand years. They’re still in use today, and most visitors never hear the word.
A piseog was a real Irish folk belief — a jealous neighbour’s curse hidden in your field. Discover the dark tradition Irish farmers once feared.
When a deal was struck at an Irish country fair, the handshake wasn’t the end of it. The seller would reach into his pocket, pull …
Dublin coddle has fed the city’s working class for 300 years. Discover the Saturday-night ritual behind Ireland’s most underrated dish — and why it never left.
The public bar and the lounge were the two worlds inside every old Irish pub — and which room you chose revealed everything about your place in society.
The Skellig List was one of Ireland’s wittiest folk traditions — a public naming of every unmarried person who missed the Shrove Tuesday marriage deadline. The story behind the rock that gave desperate singles a second chance.
Ireland has more than 3,000 recorded holy wells — most found by word of mouth alone. Discover the pattern days, rag trees, and ancient rituals that Irish people never stopped practising.
In 1937, Irish schoolchildren were sent home to interview their grandparents — and what they wrote down became one of the world’s most extraordinary folklore archives.